WASHINGTON -- While most of the country is trying to avoid salmonella by not eating jalapeno peppers, Dr. Neil Forbes is embracing the bacteria to help fight a deadly disease: cancer.

Dr. Forbes, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is arming the toxin to burrow itself into tumors and eat cancer cells. A handful of other researchers across the country are using powerful bacteria, such as salmonella, to target tumors.